A solitary strike, which arrived after 84 minutes from the right boot of Aiden McGeady, was sufficient to ensure Celtic ended a turbulent pre-season campaign in winning form yesterday.

The Scottish champions will begin the defence of their title against Kilmarnock on Sunday, though, without their influential goalkeeper Artur Boruc. The Pole sustained a shoulder injury during Thursday's friendly defeat at Newcastle and faces a fight to be fit for the first leg of Celtic's Champions League third qualifying round match on August 14 or 15.

"Artur will miss two or three weeks," said Tommy Burns, the Celtic first-team coach. "He is a major player for us, so we'll do everything we possibly can to get him fit for Europe but with that kind of thing you have to be careful or you can make the injury worse. Rest is the most important thing for him at the moment."

Mark Brown, the former Inverness goalkeeper who arrived at Celtic in January and has started only one competitive game to date, deputised against Parma but had little to do. The 26-year-old's only moment of note was when he came close to spilling an innocuous drive from Andrea Pisanu into his own net in the first half.

"Mark has conducted himself very well since he came to the club," added Burns. "He is a good professional and, if Artur is not around, the lads will feel safe knowing that Mark is there."

Boruc's enforced absence was the main talking point after a timid afternoon on the field. Parma's stock has diminished greatly since they lifted the Uefa Cup twice in the 1990s and it was an Italian in green and white who impressed most. Massimo Donati was the stand-out player by a considerable margin on his home debut and, alongside another newcomer, Scott Brown, he demonstrated how Celtic's midfield will be their strongest asset as they attempt to clinch a third successive championship.

With Shunsuke Nakamura, due to return from his exertions with Japan in the Asian Cup on Friday, expected to be fit for the club's first European foray of the season, the only pressing worry Gordon Strachan may have is that, aside from their 5-1 demolition of QPR, Celtic have found goals at a premium in their build-up to the new campaign; neither Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink nor Maciej Zurawski, who started against the Italians, appears even close to optimum performance.